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Easy Refugium Fuge Light for the Nano Cube


steelhealr

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Completed my refugium lighting. I used this light here:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...fm?pcatid=11382

 

Here is a picture of the light itself and the box it came in:

lightboxpl8.jpg

 

I planned to attach the light to the back of the tank with velcro tape. Here is the light fixture with velcro added:

velcrolightzr6.jpg

 

Here is a shot of the rear of the tank after measuring up, cutting the vinyl and attaching the opposite end of the velcro tape. I made the cut out low on the tank to avoid any kind of spillover by having the refugium light mounted too high:

velcrotankju8.jpg

 

Here is a shot of the light mounted up against the tank nice and tight, held on by the velcro tape:

lightmountedcu5.jpg

 

This shot shows the minimal spillover from the top of the light (none from the sides):

lightspillbackec3.jpg

 

This shot shows how light enters the chamber from the rear. No spillover, sucess!

lightspilltankpu9.jpg

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EclipseAgent
Completed my refugium lighting. I used this light here:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...fm?pcatid=11382

 

Here is a picture of the light itself and the box it came in:

lightboxpl8.jpg

 

I planned to attach the light to the back of the tank with velcro tape. Here is the light fixture with velcro added:

velcrolightzr6.jpg

 

Here is a shot of the rear of the tank after measuring up, cutting the vinyl and attaching the opposite end of the velcro tape. I made the cut out low on the tank to avoid any kind of spillover by having the refugium light mounted too high:

velcrotankju8.jpg

 

Here is a shot of the light mounted up against the tank nice and tight, held on by the velcro tape:

lightmountedcu5.jpg

 

This shot shows the minimal spillover from the top of the light (none from the sides):

lightspillbackec3.jpg

 

This shot shows how light enters the chamber from the rear. No spillover, sucess!

lightspilltankpu9.jpg

 

Awesome.. I found my new refugium light.. Thanks.

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Ok, for the first test run it was running opposite of tank lighting.

I left the plexiglass in place.

I came home and it had been running for about 13hrs.

The fixture itself was hot to the touch, very hot.

Tank temps increased 1.5 deg.

Not good as I usually run 80-81.5.

I will try blowing a fan towards the back area of the tank and remove the plexiglass from the inside of the fixture to see if it helps any. If not I may need to remove and only run 1 of the 2 bulbs.

If that doesnt work I may have to only run 1 of the 2 bulbs and also rig up a PC fan inside the fixture.

 

o-nano, did you have issue with heat mounting this thing right up to the glass as well? Did you leave the plexiglass in the fixture?

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o-nano, did you have issue with heat mounting this thing right up to the glass as well? Did you leave the plexiglass in the fixture?

 

This would be good to know. I purchased the same fixture, but haven't set it up yet. I will already be battling heat issues since I will be runing a 70w MH + 54w CF closed hood system from Nanocustoms. I do have the ICA, which should help, but any other advice in regards the the fuge light and heat issues would be great.

 

Also, I didn't get any replies to my last post in this thread yet, but is anyone running a UV Sterilizer in addition to the fuge?

 

BTW... Awesome Thread!!!

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stoney waters
twan are you having any temp issues with the light being so close to the glass on your cube?

 

I tried the same thing once with the exact same fixture. It got so warm that the Velcro would peel away from the glass. A small fan to vent the fixture would certainly help.

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Testing it today with a fan blowing at the light fixture on the back of the tank. Plexiglass removed, both bulbs still in. I'll see what temps are like when I get home this evening.

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Fan blowing directly at the light fixture on the back of the tank. Plexiglass removed.

Both bulbs still in.

Temps are now stable.

If I put the plexiglass back in or turn off the fan blowing on it tank temps go up 1.2-1.5deg over a 13hr period and the light back is hot to the touch. Danger!

 

Its not a problem for me at the moment cause there was tower fan located right next to the tank stand in my bedroom anyway similar to this: http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images...ote-control.jpg

 

Without the fan blowing on it..........I would not be able to run this fixture. Fan turns on when fuge light turns on.

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  • 4 months later...

I'm sorry for bumping such an old thread, but I had to reply here.

 

I was having a BAD nitrate problem when I was pointed in this direction from a friend. I was a little skeptical about it at first cutting away part of the backing and all, but let me tell you, what a difference this has made.

 

I went to Home Depot and bought the Hampton (I think that's the name anyway) Bay desk lamp for 19.99 and mounted it to the back of my stand the week of Christmas, and since then, I have watched my Nitrate levels go from 50+ to 0.

 

My cheato has to be pruned about once every couple weeks, but that's not a problem at all. Also, the tank is in the living room, so light spill over isn't a big deal either.

 

Thanks so much to all the folks that created this thread or came up with the idea. You guys and or gals rock!

 

Lou

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I orginally purchased the Coralife fixtured that a few of you have tried, but after reading about some of the heat issues, I sent it back and exchanged it for this.

 

fuge%20light.jpg

 

fuge%20top.jpg

 

chaeto.jpg

 

chaeto%20back.jpg

 

The chaeto has only been in there for a few days, and I don't have much bioload yet, but I should be able to report my success within a few weeks. Here's where I purchased the light:

 

http://www.nanotuners.com/index.php?cPath=...fdac7d01d78d7b7

 

Hope this helps... dave

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Do you guys clean the glass inside? I hate cleanning that because everytime I do, detrious goes everywhere in my tank and i have use floss to catch them.

 

I also wouldn't count on producing pods on these little refugium, it's too little and during cleaning te window will upset them.

 

Even with the refugium, there are still a lot of bioload collected in the chaets and sit there.

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hey that light looks real nice. how is it working? any heat issues? looks like its LEDs. if theres no heat issues and grows the cheato good i can justify spending $90 on it because its a clean install. oh , what are the dimensions of that light? dosnt say on the site and i noticed you have a 24g and mines a 12g. need to know if that will fit the 12g or if i'll have to get the 3.1 instead.

 

You're right, it is LED's. There is absolutely no heat, whatsoever. I peaked at the chaeto this morning and appears to have grown, but not substantially yet. It's only been in there for 5 days now, and I still haven't put anything in the tank other than a clean-up crew. I haven't even put any food in the tank yet since the clean-up crew has been well fed on algae. We'll see how the chaeto does once I increase the bioload of the tank. Sorry I don't have dimensions of the light with me right now. I'll try to remember to get them tonight.

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Qwank - I measured the fuge light... 4" x 9" x 2". Thanks for the compliment by the way. I can't take too much credit for my tank since Nanocustoms built the hood. I am quite proud of how my plumbing turned out though. The flow is about as maxed out is it can get without overflowing the backwall, and quite random too. I'd say about 600 GPH is about all the Nano Cube intake can handle if using the surface skimmer. I'm glad to hear you have been following my tank thread. I figured there wasn't too much interest since there haven't been all that many comments. Stick around and hopefully you'll see something great. It's not really anything until I'm successful at keeping some nice life in there.

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stoney waters
Anyone care to answer my questions? Please...

 

Yes, I scrape my glass. I always use a prefilter.

 

I don't mind disturbing whatever pods are in my fuge. I want them in my display anyway.

 

I don't get much ditrus in my fuge. Most is trapped by the prefilter.

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stoney waters
What is a prefilter? Thanks for answering my question STONEY. Is it floss?

 

Yes, It will catch detritus before it can enter your rear chambers. You can use floss, I use a single sponge because it fits nice and is reusable.

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Well my return pump is too big, so i just place the floss in the first and let it cycle around and collect it. It gets to the tank, but quickly removed to the intake with floss collecting it. Do you have picture?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,

I'm new to this...so I apologize in advance if some of the terminologies aren't correct.

I am trying to install a new refugium light w/ "daylight bulb" (Brand :Nvision , Input - 13 watts, Output 90 watts). Does anybody know what the spectrum for this bulb is?

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  • 2 weeks later...

hi i've just done this mod on my new 24 nc dx, there is a slight light spill over on the outside, a little on the inside too. i was thinking to stop the light on the outside is it possible to use masking tape (black) to cover the ares where light spills over?

also is there a way to conquer the light spillover on the inside, its not much but i want my fuge light to be on opposite cycles to my main lights so it would be on in the night, is there any way to reduce this? thanks in a dvance, oh and thanks stealhr for your great posts here and about the 24 nano cube thread, helped alot!

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Cmonkey, 9 watt is pretty low, but yourasking about how much spectrum is you bulb? I don't know. It should say on the bulb right? You need about at least 6-7000k for chaets.

 

Silverteen, What is spillover? I have never heard of that term before.

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umm basically the light that escapes out the sides of the back of the tank from your fuge light, i.e if its not tight against the back fo the tank it will have light coming from behind the tank, ive fixed the problem with electrical tape now, its more secure and no light spillling out the sides of the lighting unit. I kinda worked out my own answer to the light being created inside the tank, that once the cheato is added and growing then light produced in the chamber spilling ovcer to the main display is going to be reduced!

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